


Twilight World

by Tarlan



Series: Dark Gift [16]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25112932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: Chris longs for the open spaces where he no longer has the cacophony of voices in his head.
Relationships: Chris Larabee/Vin Tanner
Series: Dark Gift [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/8388
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11
Collections: Michael Biehn Fiction and Art, Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	Twilight World

As the decades rolled by Chris began to struggle with the constant advancement in technology and the ever-increasing number of humans with their clamoring thoughts battering at his mental shields. He wished for the early days of the Old West when he could sometimes ride a full day without crossing paths with another soul. He had accrued sufficient wealth to purchase acres of land where he could set up a house or a log cabin and live in solitude with just him and Vin, but even though they didn't need to do so as often as they grew older in vampire years, they still needed to feed at least three or four times a month.

Hiding their feeding activities would be a far greater problem within small communities as people tended to notice the disappearances and any strange behavior.

"Hell, Chris, that ain't so much of a problem nowadays. Just head into the city when you need to, and spend the rest of the time rearing horses or doing whatever," Buck stated, but it was the mid-1960s with people riled over the Cuban missile crisis and looking for 'reds under their beds'. The communist witch hunts of the 50s had come to an end but people were still wary of anything and anyone acting different from the crowd.

"Neighbors in small towns can be nosy," Vin replied.

Chris nodded in agreement. The locals would start to wonder why they never attended town picnics and parades; why they only ever saw him and Vin at night. They would wonder why the place seemed deserted during the daylight hours, with the horses left to roam unattended, un-watched, and the rumors would spread. Local kids would dare each other to go onto the property, and eventually someone would come across them while they slept away the day. At least in the larger towns and cities there was an element of anonymity that kept them safe from detection, allowing them to live their lives during the hours of darkness and feed in the shadows.

Chris cussed under his breath at the vampire blood that was both a blessing and a curse. There had to be a happy medium where he could gain some relief from the constant cacophony of voices in his head and yet keep both him and Vin safe, but he had yet to figure it out.

"New York," J.D. stated.

Buck side-eyed him. "Ain't exactly a ghost town."

"But it has a big open space in the middle of Manhattan. A park big enough to get far away from people without leaving the city," J.D. added.

So they moved to New York where Chris could gain at least a little peace of mind in Central Park during the dark hours between midnight and dawn. New York was also big enough to allow them to move on whenever someone began to notice how none of them changed or aged, though occasionally they moved to Chicago or Detroit. One large city after another.

Forty-seven years later Queen Akasha's blood changed everything.

She had allowed Lestat to drink from her before she was destroyed, and in turn, Lestat had allowed Chris and Vin to drink from him while her blood still coursed through his veins. It had saved them from Ella's wrath, from immolating under the burning sun of a new day. Months had passed since then and Chris discovered he could walk in dim sunlight, especially on a cloudy day, as long as he kept most of his skin covered and his face and eyes shaded. The pull of dreamless sleep still called to him and Vin, but they found they were waking earlier, in the late afternoon before the sun had set, and not feeling the need to sleep until well after the sun had risen. Once or twice Chris had even woken partway through a particularly dark and cloudy day, fearing for their safety at first in case they had been discovered.

They could watch the sunrise from the darkened shadows though the colors were now too vivid, too bright for their vampire sight.

After all these years it seemed strange to be leaving the familiar hunting grounds of New York but they were all craving the open spaces; even Ezra. Nathan found them the perfect ranch halfway between Portland and Seattle that had an extensive wine cellar they could fortify and turn into safe rooms. Buck and Josiah went ahead of the others to get everything prepared.

On the last day in New York Chris looked around the now empty room that had been his and Vin's safe haven for the past six of those long years.

"Not gonna miss these walls, or the city," he murmured, nuzzling Vin's neck, scraping his sharpened incisors against the cool, pale flesh. "Last hunt?"

Vin grinned. "You got someone in mind, or we window shopping tonight?"

"Murdered his wife and kid for the insurance and got away with it. Figured we'd show him the error of his ways."

Vin nodded, aware of how certain crimes affected Chris more deeply than others even though Sarah and Adam were now a distant memory.

"Sounds like a plan."

Hours later, warmed by the blood of a fresh kill, they took to the air, moving faster than the human eye could see as they headed to the airport and the private plane that would take them to Portland. Several human lifetimes ago it would have taken them weeks to cross the breadth of the country but as they sank into the luxurious seats the captain made an announcement as he began to taxi towards the runway.

"The skies are clear. We should be in for a smooth flight, arriving in Portland in just over 6 hours."

Chris smiled at Vin. They would reach their new home long before the sun rose at the start of a new day.

"Perhaps some advances in technology are not so bad after all," Vin murmured low enough for only vampire ears to hear.

Chris grinned and sank back into the comfy seat. He had Vin by his side and the rest of his family was waiting just a few hours ahead of them. He gazed out of the small window at the myriad lights shining from far below in the twilight world beyond, looking forward to the new experience of flying, and the latest ride of his long life.

END  



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